Wireless data transmission

ABSTRACT

An example method may include receiving, at a device, a first frame over a wireless network and constructing a preliminary data portion of a second frame. The second frame may be configured for transmission over the wireless network. The method may also include in response to the receiving of the first frame at the device, beginning transmission of a header portion of the second frame over the wireless network and after the beginning transmission of the header portion of the second frame, constructing, based on the preliminary data portion, a finalized data portion of the second frame for transmission over the wireless network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 16/815,599 filed Mar. 11, 2020. The Ser. No.16/815,599 application is incorporated in the present disclosure byreference in its entirety.

FIELD

The implementations discussed herein are related to a wireless datatransmission.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described herein arenot prior art to the claims in the present application and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Wireless local area networks (WLAN) may be established using a devicecalled a Wireless Access Point (WAP). The WAP may wirelessly couple allthe devices of the local network, e.g. wireless stations such as digitaldevices to one another and to other networks. Most WAPs implement theIEEE 802.11 standard. The IEEE 802.11 standard includes multipleprotocols. In some protocols, the WAP may transmit trigger frames thatindicates which devices may transmit uplink data to the WAP. The triggerframes may also indicate when the devices may transmit the uplink dataand the resources block of the WLAN to use when transmitting the uplinkdata.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to implementations thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one example technology area where some implementationsdescribed herein may be practiced.

SUMMARY

An example method may include receiving, at a device, a first frame overa wireless network and constructing a preliminary data portion of asecond frame. The second frame may be configured for transmission overthe wireless network. The method may also include in response to thereceiving of the first frame at the device, beginning transmission of aheader portion of the second frame over the wireless network and afterthe beginning transmission of the header portion of the second frame,constructing, based on the preliminary data portion, a finalized dataportion of the second frame for transmission over the wireless network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example implementations will be described and explained with additionalspecificity and detail using the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment within which wireless data maybe transmitted;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example timing diagram for constructing andtransmitting a frame over a wireless network;

FIG. 3A illustrates an example preliminary response PPDU;

FIG. 3B illustrates an example finalized response PPDU;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method to prepare framesfor transmission over a wireless network;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method of wireless datatransmission; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexample form of a computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATIONS

Implementations described herein may generally include an approach ofwireless data transmission. In some wireless transmission protocols, afirst device, such as a wireless access point, may transmit a requestframe to one or more other devices. The request frame may indicate tothe one or more other devices that the one or more other devices maytransmit a response frame, with uplink data, to the first device. As anexample, the request frame may be a trigger frame and the responseframes may be a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) frame in theIEEE 802.11ax protocol.

Some wireless transmission protocols may specify a timing requirementfor devices, such as the one or more other devices, to begintransmission of a response frame after receiving a request frame. Thetiming requirement may describe a particular amount of time after thereception of the request frame for the devices to begin transmission ofa response frame. In these and other implementations, the particularamount of time may be less than an amount of time that the devices mayuse to construct a response frame if the devices wait for reception ofthe entire request frame before preparing the response frame.Implementations described in this disclosure may include variousmethods, systems, and/or devices that may be used to construct andtransmit a response frame to adhere to a timing requirement specified bya wireless transmission protocol.

For example, in some implementations, a method is described thatincludes constructing a preliminary data portion of a response framebefore a request frame is received. Alternately or additionally, themethod may include obtaining information from the request frame before acyclic redundancy check of the first frame is completed. The informationmay be used to begin construction of a header portion of the responsebefore the request frame is completely received and verified.Alternately or additionally, the information may be used to determine aresponse time for transmitting the response frame before the requestframe is completely received and verified.

The method may also include beginning transmission of the header portionof the response frame before the construction of a data portion of theresponse frame is completed. In these and other implementations, thedata portion of the response frame may be completed before thetransmission of the header portion of the response frame is completed.After transmission of the header portion of the response frame, the dataportion of the completed response frame may be transmitted.

The implementations described in this disclosure may allow a device orsystem to adhere to timing requirements of wireless protocols when thedevice or system may not be configured to otherwise prepare a responseframe to meet the timing requirements. Allowing a device or system toadhere to timing requirements of wireless protocols may allow the deviceor system to use the wireless protocol, which may reduce overall networktraffic, decrease backlog and transmission delays, improve networkspeeds observed by consumers using wireless networks, and/or improvenetwork functionality.

Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe various aspectsof example implementations of the present disclosure. It is to beunderstood that the drawings are diagrammatic and schematicrepresentations of such example implementations, and are not limiting ofthe present disclosure, nor are they necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 within which wireless datamay be transmitted, in accordance with one or more implementations ofthe present disclosure. The environment 100 illustrates an access point(AP) 110, a first device 120, a second device 130, and a third device140.

In some implementations, the AP 110 may include a gateway, a repeater, amesh node, and/or any other suitable device configured to host orcontrol access to a wireless local area networks (WLAN). The WLAN may beimplemented using any of the 802.11 protocols or other suitable wirelessstandard or protocol. One example implementation of the AP 110 as acomputing device is illustrated in FIG. 6.

Each of the devices 120, 130, and 140 may generally include any devicethat is configured to access a WLAN, such as the WLAN hosted by the AP110 or an internet of things local area network. Each of the devices120, 130, and 140 may include a desktop computer, a laptop computer, atablet computer, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a smart device or appliance, an automobile or othertype of personal vehicle, or any other suitable wireless station. Oneexample implementation of one of the devices 120, 130, and 140 as acomputing device is also illustrated in FIG. 6.

In some implementations, the AP 110 may connect to a separate network,such as the Internet and/or a core network via a bridge, a backhaullink, a base station, and/or other suitable devices or connections. TheAP 110 may be configured to allow the devices 120, 130, and 140 toaccess the separate network via the WLAN.

The WLAN of the environment 100 may include a particular protocol towhich the AP 110 and the devices 120, 130, and 140 may adhere. Forexample, a particular protocol may allow the AP 110 to request uplinkdata from the devices 120, 130, and 140. In these and otherimplementations, the AP 110 may transmit a request frame, such as atrigger frame in the 802.11ax protocol, to the devices 120, 130, and140. The request frame may indicate from which of the devices 120, 130,and 140 the AP 110 may be requesting uplink data. For example, the AP110 may transmit a request frame that indicates that the first device120 and the second device 130 may transmit uplink data to the AP 110.Each of the first device 120 and the second device 130 may respond tothe request frame with a response frame that includes data for uploadingto the AP 110. For example, the response frame may be a trigger based(TB)-PPDU frame in the 802.11ax protocol. In these and otherimplementations, the third device 140 may not transmit a response frameto the AP 110, even if the third device 140 may include data to uploadto the AP 110 because the request frame did not request data from thethird device 140.

In some implementations, the particular protocol may indicate a timingrequirement for when the devices 120, 130, and 140 may transmit theresponse frame. The timing requirement may indicate that transmission ofthe response frame begins after a particular amount of time elapses fromthe end of the receipt of the request frame. For example, the timingrequirement may indicate that the devices 120, 130, and 140 begintransmission of a response frame a particular number of microsecondsafter a last symbol of the request frame is received by the devices 120,130, and 140.

In some implementations, the devices 120, 130, and 140 may perform oneor more operations to allow the devices 120, 130, and 140 to transmit aresponse frame according to a timing requirement of a protocol inresponse to a request frame. For example, the device 120 may includehardware 122 that may be configured to perform the operations.

In some implementations, an operation to allow the devices 120, 130, and140 to transmit a response frame according to a timing requirement of aprotocol in response to a request frame may include the devices 120,130, and 140 processing a request frame before reception of the entirerequest frame. For example, the hardware 122 of the first device 120 mayparse the request frame to extract information to configure a responseframe. Alternately or additionally, software of the first device 120 mayparse the request frame Alternately or additionally, the informationexacted from the response frame may be used to determine a transmissionstart time for the response frame.

In some implementations, an operation to allow the devices 120, 130, and140 to transmit a response frame according to a timing requirement of aprotocol in response to a request frame may include the devices 120,130, and 140 constructing a preliminary response frame before receivinga request frame and/or before the request frame is completely receivedand checked. For example, the first device 120 may include data toupload to the AP 110. The first device 120 may construct sub-frames ofthe data that may be aggregated together by the hardware 122 as apreliminary response frame. The hardware 122 may adjust the preliminaryresponse frame based on information from the request frame to constructa finalized response frame for transmitting to the AP 110 at thetransmission start time. In these and other implementations, adjustingthe preliminary response frame may include removing one or moresub-frames of the data that formed the preliminary response frame. Anumber of the sub-frames removed from the preliminary response frame maybe based on information obtained from the request frame.

In some implementations, an operation to allow the devices 120, 130, and140 to transmit a response frame according to a timing requirement of aprotocol in response to a request frame may further include the devices120, 130, and 140 preparing a header portion of the response framebefore the transmission start time without having a data portion of theresponse frame finalized for transmission. In these and otherimplementations, the devices 120, 130, and 140 may begin transmittingthe header portion of the response frame. While the header portion ofthe response frame is being transmitting, the devices 120, 130, and 140may finalize construction of the data portion of the response frame. Asa result, the transmission of the header portion of the response frameand the construction of the data portion of the response frame may occur(e.g., in parallel, simultaneously, etc.) during the same time interval.Construction of the data portion of the response frame may be finalizedbefore all of the header portion of the response frame is transmitted.After transmission of the header portion of the response frame, thefinalized data portion of the response frame may be transmitted.

As described in the disclosure, the devices 120, 130, and 140 mayperform any of multiple operations to allow the devices 120, 130, and140 to transmit a response frame according to a timing requirement of aprotocol in response to a request frame. In some implementations, thedevices 120, 130, and 140 may perform any combination of the operations.Alternately or additionally, one of the devices 120, 130, and 140 mayperform some of the operations and others of the devices may performothers of the operations.

In some implementations, the devices 120, 130, and 140 may perform oneor more of the operations but not in response to receiving a requestframe (e.g., independent of a trigger). Alternately or additionally, thedevices 120, 130, and 140 may perform one or more of the operations butnot in response to meeting a timing requirement of a protocol (e.g.,independent of a timing requirement). In these and otherimplementations, the devices 120, 130, and 140 may perform theoperations for any reason.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the environment100 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, the environment 100 may include any number of other elements ormay be implemented within other systems or contexts than thosedescribed. For example, any number of APs 110 and/or devices 120, 130,and/or 140 may be included.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example timing diagram 200 for constructing andtransmitting a frame over a wireless network, in accordance with one ormore implementations of the present disclosure.

The timing diagram 200 may be a timing diagram that illustratesoperations that may occur at a device during wireless communicationbetween an AP, such as the AP 110 of FIG. 1 and the device, such as thedevice 120 of FIG. 1. The timing diagram 200 may not illustrate alloperations that may be performed by the device nor are the operationslimited to being performed in the order illustrated in the timingdiagram 200. Additionally, the relationship between the different timesin the timing diagram 200 are illustrative and not meant to connote aspecific amount of time.

In general, the timing diagram 200 may illustrate a request frame 210that may be received by a device after being transmitted by an AP. Therequest frame 210 may request that the device transmit uplink data fromthe device to the AP in a response PPDU 220.

At time 230, the request frame 210 may begin to be received at thedevice. The request frame 210 may be composed of multiple symbols thatmay be transmitted over a wireless medium from the AP. The symbols maybe sequentially transmitted, by a requestor (e.g., AP), starting from aninitial symbol to a last symbol. At time 230, the initial symbol of therequest frame 210 may be received by the device. At time 234, the lastsymbol of the request frame 210 may be received by the device. Thenumber of symbols in the request frame 210 may vary based on an amountof data in the request frame 210 and amount of data in each symbol,among other factors. In some implementations, the request frame 210 maybe an example of a trigger frame from the 802.11ax protocol.

The request frame 210 may include multiple different types ofinformation. For example, the request frame 210 may include commoninformation 212, first user information 214, second user information216, and cyclic redundancy check information (CRC) 218, among otherinformation.

The common information 212 may include information indicating that therequest frame 210 is a request from the AP for transmitting uplink datafrom the device. The common information 212 may also include otherinformation such as a transmission power for the response PPDU 220 and alength of the response PPDU 220, among other information, such asphysical parameters used for transmission of the response PPDU 220.

The first user information 214 may indicate a first device that isauthorized to transmit uplink data to the AP in response to the requestframe 210. The first user information 214 may additionally includespecific transmission parameters for the first device to use whentransmitting uplink data to the AP. For example, the specifictransmission parameters may include transmission frequency, bandwidth,resource blocks, among other transmission parameters.

The second user information 216 may indicate a second device that isauthorized to transmit uplink data to the AP in response to the requestframe 210. The second user information 216 may include informationanalogous to the first user information 214 but unique to the seconddevice. FIG. 2 illustrates the request frame 210 include first userinformation 214 and second user information 216. However, the requestframe 210 may include information for more than two devices.

The CRC 218 may include information that allows the device to check thatthe request frame 210 is accurately received using a cyclic redundancycheck.

At time 232, the device may determine that the request frame 210received at time 230 is a request frame. In some implementations, inresponse to determining that the request frame 210 is a request frame,the device may begin to parse the symbols of the request frame 210 thathave been received. For example, the device may begin to parse thecommon information 212. The device may begin parsing the receivedsymbols of the request frame 210 before the last symbol of the requestframe 210 has been received at time 234. In some implementations,parsing the received symbols of the request frame 210 as the symbols arereceived may allow the device to obtain information in the request frame210 before all of the symbols of the request frame 210 are received,before all processing of every symbol of the request frame 210 has beencompleted, and/or a cyclic redundancy check using the CRC 218 has beenperformed for the request frame 210. In these and other implementations,the processing of the request frame 210 may include equalization,demodulation, and filtering among other processing performed onwirelessly transmitted data.

By parsing the received symbols of the request frame 210 as the symbolsare received, the device may obtain information regarding a length ofthe request frame 210. Based on the length of the request frame 210 andthe request frame 210 being received at time 230, the device maycalculate when a last symbol of the request frame 210 may be receivedbefore the last symbol of the request frame 210 is received. Forexample, the device may calculate that at time 234 a last symbol of therequest frame 210 may be received.

By calculating the time 234, the device may also calculate atransmission start time for the response PPDU 220 before the last symbolof the request frame 210 is received. For example, the device mayinclude timing requirement information that may indicate thattransmission of a response frame may start a set amount of time afterreception of a last symbol of a request frame. The set amount of timemay be referred to as an interframe time period. As an example, theinterframe time period may range between one to one-hundredmicroseconds, however, the interframe time period may vary based on awireless protocol being implemented. In these and other implementations,the transmission start time of a response frame may be calculated byadding the interframe time period to the time when the last symbol of arequest frame is received. In FIG. 2, the interframe time period isillustrated as 250. As such the transmission start time occurs at time242 which is the interframe time period 250 after the time 234 when thelast symbol of the request frame 210 is received.

In some implementations, based on the calculated transmission starttime, the device may set a timer that may expire at the transmissionstart time to indicate when transmission of the response PPDU 220 is tobegin.

At time 236, the device may perform a cyclic redundancy check of therequest frame 210 using the CRC 218. In response to the cyclicredundancy check indicating that the request frame 210 is not properlyreceived by the device, the device may take no further action withrespect to the request frame 210. In response to the cyclic redundancycheck indicating that the request frame 210 is properly received by thedevice, the device may determine if the request frame 210 requests thatthe device transmit uplink data. In response to the request frame 210not indicating that the device transmit uplink data, the device may takeno further action with respect to the request frame 210. In response tothe request frame 210 indicating that the device transmit uplink data,the device may construct the response PPDU 220. The device may constructthe response PPDU 220 using information from the request frame 210 anduplink data obtained by the device. For example, the device mayconstruct a header portion 222 using information from the commoninformation 212 and/or one of the first user information 214 and seconduser information 216 along with other information from the request frame210. The device may also construct a data portion 224 using the uplinkdata.

At time 238, processing of the request frame 210 may be completed. Notethat parsing of the request frame 210 and construction of the responsePPDU 220 may occur before time 238. At time 240, the construction of theheader portion 222 may be finalized. The construction of the dataportion 224 may continue after the time 240.

At time 242, the header portion 222 of the response PPDU 220 may beginbeing transmitted by the device. In some implementations, the headerportion 222 may be transmitted in response to the timer expiring that isset based on the calculated transmission start time. The construction ofthe data portion 224 may continue after the header portion 222 beginstransmission. At time 244, the construction of the data portion 224 maybe finalized. After the header portion 222 is transmitted, the dataportion 224 may be transmitted by the device.

In some implementations, the construction of one or both of the headerportion 222 and the data portion 224 may begin before the time 238. Forexample, construction of one or both of the header portion 222 and thedata portion 224 may be begin at any time between the time 232 and thetime 238 and/or in response to any type of information being parsed fromthe request frame 210. In these and other implementations, the headerportion 222 may be constructed with information as the information isparsed from the request frame 210. For example, the header portion 222may be constructed in response to parsing information from the commoninformation 212 and/or information from one of the first userinformation 214 or the second user information 216. As another example,the data portion 224 may be constructed in response to parsinginformation in the request frame 210 regarding a length of the responsePPDU 220.

In some implementations, the construction of one or both of the headerportion 222 and the data portion 224 may begin before the time 230. Inthese and other implementations, the device may construct a preliminaryheader portion and/or a preliminary data portion. In response toreceiving the request frame 210, the device may adjust the preliminaryheader portion and the preliminary data portion to construct the headerportion 222 and the data portion 224.

The construction of the header portion 222 based on the preliminaryheader portion may occur during some period between the time 232 and thetime 240 and/or in response to any type of information being parsed fromthe request frame 210. The preliminary header portion may include one ormore information fields that may include information from the device.The header portion 222 may be constructed using the preliminary headerportion by populating the header portion 222 with additional informationfrom the request frame 210, such as physical parameters fortransmission. The preliminary header portion may be populated withinformation from the request frame 210 in response to the informationbeing parsed and before the time 236. The construction of the headerportion 222 may conclude before the time 236, the time 238, or the time240.

The construction of the data portion 224 based on the preliminary dataportion may occur during some period between the time 232 and the time244 and/or in response to any type of information being parsed from therequest frame 210. For example, the data portion 224 may be constructedbased on the preliminary data portion in response the device parsinginformation from the request frame 210 regarding a length of theresponse PPDU 220. The length of the response PPDU 220 may be used todetermine how much uplink data may be transmitted in the response PPDU220.

The device may construct the preliminary data portion by formattinguplink data at the device for transmission before the time 230. Forexample, the device may format the uplink data into uplink data framesin memory that may be chained together to a form a multiple uplink dataframe chain. For example, the multiple uplink data frame chain mayinclude one or more MAC protocol data units (MPDU) in some 802.11protocols. The device may construct a preliminary data portion of aparticular length such that a response frame constructed from thepreliminary data portion would be longer in length than the lengthindicated in the request frame 210. In these and other implementations,the device may adjust the preliminary data portion formed of multipleuplink data frames to form the data portion 224. Adjusting thepreliminary data portion may include removing one or more uplink dataframes from the preliminary data portion. In some implementations, thedevice may continue to construct the data portion 224 after the time242.

In some implementations, padding may be added between the differentuplink data frames in the uplink data frame chain. For example, paddingmay be added between each of multiple MPDUs. In these and otherembodiments, each of the MPDUs may include a CRC field. Alternately oradditionally, padding may be added to the end of the data portion 224and a CRC field may be added after the padding. In some implementations,a CRC field may be added after the data portion 224 with the responsePPDU 220 not including any padding.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the timing diagram200 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, the timing diagram 200 may include multiple other operations.Alternately or additionally, one or more of the operations may occur atdifferent times. For example, the cyclic redundancy check of the requestframe 210 may occur after the time 238. Additionally, any combination ofsoftware and/or hardware of a device may be used to perform theoperations discussed with respect to the timing diagram 200.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example preliminary response PPDU 300 a, inaccordance with one or more implementations of the present disclosure.The preliminary response PPDU 300 a may include a preliminary headerportion 310 a, a first data portion 312, a second data portion 314, anda third data portion 316. Each of the data portions may be an uplinkdata frame and the data portions may be chained together. Thepreliminary response frame 300 a may be constructed by a device beforethe device receives a request frame.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example finalized response PPDU 300 b, inaccordance with one or more implementations of the present disclosure.The finalized response PPDU 300 b may include a header portion 310 bthat may analogous to the preliminary header portion 310 a but may alsoinclude information 311 that may be obtained from a request frame. Thefinalized response PPDU 300 b may also include the first data portion312 and the second data portion 314. However, the finalized responsePPDU 300 b may not include the third data portion 316. The third dataportion 316 may be removed from the preliminary response frame 300 aduring construction of the finalized response PPDU 300 b based on alength of the preliminary response PPDU 300 a being longer than a lengthindicated by the request frame.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the response PPDU300 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Forexample, the response PPDU 300 may include more than two or three dataportions, CRC fields, and/or padding.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 to prepareframes for transmission over a wireless network, in accordance with oneor more implementations of the present disclosure. The method 400 may beimplemented, in whole or in part, by one or more of the devices 120,130, and 140 of FIG. 1.

At block 402, a device may identify a received frame as a request framefrom an AP. The request frame may be a request for the device totransmit uplink data to the AP in a response PPDU. In someimplementations, hardware of the device, such as baseband or mediaaccess control (MAC) hardware, may assert a software interrupt to notifysoftware running on the device that a request frame has been received.

At block 404, the device may begin to parse fields of the request frame.In some implementations, the software may begin parsing fields of therequest frame in response to the software interrupt. The software mayparse fields of the request frame as symbols of the request frame arecontinuing to be received and processed by the device. By parsing thefields of the request frame, the device may obtain information for theresponse PPDU. For example, the information may include physicalparameters used in a header portion of the request frame.

At block 406, the device may determine a transmission time for theresponse PPDU. The transmission time for the response PPDU may bedetermined in response to obtaining information regarding a length ofthe request frame by the software of the device. The transmission timefor the response PPDU may be calculated before a last symbol of theresponse PPDU is received by the device. The transmission time may becalculated using a received time of a first symbol of the request frame,a length of the request frame, and an interframe time period associatedwith the wireless protocols used for wireless transmission of theresponse PPDU. The interframe time period may indicate a time forbeginning transmission of the response PPDU after the last symbol of therequest frame is received. The device may set a timer to expire at thetransmission time by the software of the device.

At block 408, the device may begin construction of the response PPDU.The construction may begin before the final symbol of the request frameis received. The device may use information parsed from the requestframe before the final symbol of the request frame is received toconstruct a header portion of the response PPDU. In someimplementations, the construction of the response PPDU may be based on apreliminary response PPDU constructed before the request frame isreceived by the device. In these and other implementations, theconstruction of the response PPDU may include adjusting the preliminaryresponse PPDU. For example, a header portion of the preliminary responsePPDU may be adjusted to include information from the request frame. Asanother example, one or more of multiple uplink data frames chainedtogether to form a preliminary data portion of the preliminary responsePPDU may be removed during construction of a data portion of theresponse PPDU. The response PPDU may be constructed by software of thedevice.

At block 410, the device may receive the final symbol of the requestframe. In response to receiving the final symbol of the request frame,the device may perform a CRC check using CRC information from therequest frame.

At block 412, the device may determine if the CRC check of the requestframe passes. In these and other implementations, hardware of the devicemay assert a software interrupt to indicate to the software of thedevice the result of the CRC. In response to the CRC check passing, themethod 400 may proceed to block 416. In response to the CRC check notpassing, the method may proceed to block 414.

At block 414, the device may disregard the request frame. Disregardingthe request frame may include the device not taking further action withrespect to the request frame. For example, the software of the devicemay stop preparing the response PPDU for transmission.

At block 416, the device may determine if the device is designated fortransmission of a response PPDU based on information from the requestframe. For example, the request frame may designate the device or maydesignate random-access resource units that may be used by the device.If the device is designated or random-access resource units aredesignated, the device may be determined to be designated. In responseto the device being designated, the method 400 may proceed to block 420.In response to the device not being designated, the method 400 mayproceed to block 418.

At block 418, the device may disregard the request frame. At block 420,the device may finalize the header portion of the response PPDU. Thedata portion of the response PPDU may not be finalized.

At block 422, the device may determine if the present is time fortransmission of the header portion of the response PPDU based on thetimer. In response to the timer expiring, the method may proceed toblock 424.

At block 424, device may begin transmission of the header portion of theresponse PPDU. The transmission of the header portion may include thetransmission of multiple symbols.

At block 426, the device may finalize construction of the data portionof the response PPDU. The construction of the data portion may havebegun before transmission of the header portion of the response PPDU andmay be finalized after the transmission of the response PPDU begins. Insome implementations, the construction of the data portion of theresponse PPDU may be finalized during transmission of initial trainingfields of the header portion. In some implementations, the constructionof the data portion may be finalized before high efficiency trainingfields of the header portion are transmitted.

At block 428, after the header of the response PPDU is transmitted, thedata portion of the response PPDU may be transmitted. Alternately oradditionally, CRC fields and/or optionally padding may also betransmitted.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and otherprocesses and methods disclosed herein, the functions performed in theprocesses and methods may be implemented in differing order,simultaneously, etc. Furthermore, the outlined steps and operations areonly provided as examples, and some of the steps and operations may beoptional, combined into fewer steps and operations, or expanded intoadditional steps and operations without detracting from the essence ofthe disclosed implementations. For example, the block 408 may occurbefore the block 406. Alternately or additionally, the block 408 mayoccur after the block 416 in response to the device being designated fortransmission. Additionally, the method 400 is described with respect tohardware and/or software performing various functions. However, anycombination of software or hardware may perform the various functionsdescribed with respect to the method 400.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 510 of wireless datatransmission, in accordance with one or more implementations of thepresent disclosure. The method 510 may be implemented, in whole or inpart, by one or more of the devices 120, 130, and 140 of FIG. 1.

At block 512, a first frame may be received at a device over a wirelessnetwork.

At block 514, a preliminary data portion of a second frame may beconstructed. The second frame may be configured for transmission overthe wireless network. In some implementations, the first frame mayinclude a beginning symbol that is received at a first of the firstframe. In these and other implementations, the construction of thepreliminary data portion of the second frame may begin before thebeginning symbol of the first frame is received by the device.

In some implementations, the construction of the finalized data portionof the second frame may being before the beginning transmission of theheader portion of the second frame and continues after the beginningtransmission of the header portion of the second frame.

At block 516, in response to the receiving of the first frame at thedevice transmission of a header portion of the second frame may beginover the wireless network. In some implementations, the first frame maybe a trigger frame transmitted by a wireless access point and the secondframe may be a physical layer protocol data unit frame or a PPDUresponse.

At block 518, after the beginning transmission of the header portion ofthe second frame a finalized data portion of the second frame may beconstructed based on the preliminary data portion for transmission overthe wireless network. In some implementations, the constructing thefinalized data portion of the second frame may include removing datafrom the preliminary data portion.

One skilled in the art will appreciate that, for this and otherprocesses and methods disclosed herein, the functions performed in theprocesses and methods may be implemented in differing order,simultaneously, etc. Furthermore, the outlined steps and operations areonly provided as examples, and some of the steps and operations may beoptional, combined into fewer steps and operations, or expanded intoadditional steps and operations without detracting from the essence ofthe disclosed implementations.

For example, the method 510 may further include obtaining informationfrom the first frame before a cyclic redundancy check of the first frameand constructing the header portion of the second frame based on theinformation. In some implementations, the first frame may include a lastsymbol that is received at an end of the first frame. In these and otherimplementations, the method 510 may further include determining atransmission start time for the second frame before the last symbol ofthe first frame is received by the device, wherein the transmission ofthe header portion of the second frame begins at the transmission starttime. Alternately or additionally, the first frame may include a lengthparameter extracted from the first frame before the last symbol of thefirst frame is received by the device and the transmission start timemay be determined based on the length parameter.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexample form of a computing device 600 within which a set ofinstructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethods discussed herein, may be executed. The computing device 600 mayinclude a mobile phone, a smart phone, a netbook computer, a rackmountserver, a router computer, a server computer, a personal computer, amainframe computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktopcomputer, or any computing device with at least one processor, etc.,within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to performany one or more of the methods discussed herein, may be executed. Inalternative implementations, the machine may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or theInternet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a server machine inclient-server network environment. The machine may include a personalcomputer (PC), a set-top box (STB), a server, a network router, switchor bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions(sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by thatmachine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term“machine” may also include any collection of machines that individuallyor jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to performany one or more of the methods discussed herein.

The example computing device 600 includes a processing device (e.g., aprocessor) 602, a main memory 604 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flashmemory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM(SDRAM)), a static memory 606 (e.g., flash memory, static random accessmemory (SRAM)) and a data storage device 616, which communicate witheach other via a bus 608.

Processing device 602 represents one or more general-purpose processingdevices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like.More particularly, the processing device 602 may include a complexinstruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction setcomputing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW)microprocessor, or a processor implementing other instruction sets orprocessors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Theprocessing device 602 may also include one or more special-purposeprocessing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), network processor, or the like. The processing device602 is configured to execute instructions 626 for performing theoperations and steps discussed herein.

The computing device 600 may further include one or more networkinterface devices 622 which may communicate with one or more networks618. The computing device 600 also may include a display device 610, analphanumeric input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 614 (e.g., a mouse) and a signal generation device 620 (e.g., aspeaker). In at least one implementation, the display device 610, thealphanumeric input device 612, and/or the cursor control device 614 maybe combined into a single component or device.

The data storage device 616 may include a computer-readable storagemedium 624 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 626embodying any one or more of the methods or functions described herein.The instructions 626 may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 604 and/or within the processing device 602during execution thereof by the computing device 600, the main memory604 and the processing device 602 also constituting computer-readablemedia. The instructions may further be transmitted or received over anetwork 618 via the network interface device 622.

While the computer-readable storage medium 624 is shown in an exampleimplementation to be a single medium, the term “computer-readablestorage medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable storage medium” may also include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methods of the present disclosure. The term“computer-readable storage medium” may accordingly be taken to include,but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical media, and magneticmedia.

Some portions of the detailed description are presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations within a computer.These algorithmic descriptions and symbolic representations are themeans used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey theessence of their innovations to others skilled in the art. An algorithmis a series of configured operations leading to a desired end state orresult. In example implementations, the operations carried out requirephysical manipulations of tangible quantities for achieving a tangibleresult.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as detecting, determining, analyzing, identifying, scanningor the like, can include the actions and processes of a computer systemor other information processing device that manipulates and transformsdata represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computersystem's registers and memories into other data similarly represented asphysical quantities within the computer system's memories or registersor other information storage, transmission or display devices.

Example implementations may also relate to an apparatus for performingthe operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed forthe required purposes, or it may include one or more general-purposecomputers selectively activated or reconfigured by one or more computerprograms. Such computer programs may be stored in a computer readablemedium, such as a computer-readable storage medium or acomputer-readable signal medium. Computer-executable instructions mayinclude, for example, instructions and data which cause ageneral-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or special-purposeprocessing device (e.g., one or more processors) to perform or controlperformance of a certain function or group of functions.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter configured in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

An example apparatus can include a Wireless Access Point (WAP) or astation and incorporating a VLSI processor and program code to support.An example transceiver couples via an integral modem to one of a cable,fiber, or digital subscriber backbone connection to the Internet tosupport wireless communications, e.g. IEEE 802.11 compliantcommunications, on a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). The WIFI stageincludes a baseband stage, and the analog front end (AFE) and RadioFrequency (RF) stages. In the baseband portion wireless communicationstransmitted to or received from each user/client/station are processed.The AFE and RF portion handles the up conversion on each of transmitpaths of wireless transmissions initiated in the baseband. The RFportion also handles the down conversion of the signals received on thereceive paths and passes them for further processing to the baseband.

An example apparatus can be a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)apparatus supporting as many as N×N discrete communication streams overN antennas. In an example the MIMO apparatus signal processing units canbe implemented as N×N. In various implementations, the value of N can be4, 6, 8, 12, 16, etc. Extended MIMO operation enables the use of up to2N antennae in communication with another similarly equipped wirelesssystem. It should be noted that extended MIMO systems can communicatewith other wireless systems even if the systems do not have the samenumber of antennae, but some of the antennae of one of the stationsmight not be utilized, reducing optimal performance.

Channel State Information (CSI) from any of the devices described hereincan be extracted independent of changes related to channel stateparameters and used for spatial diagnosis services of the network suchas motion detection, proximity detection, and localization which can beutilized in, for example, WLAN diagnosis, home security, health caremonitoring, smart home utility control, elder care, automotive trackingand monitoring, home or mobile entertainment, automotive infotainment,and the like.

Unless specific arrangements described herein are mutually exclusivewith one another, the various implementations described herein can becombined in whole or in part to enhance system functionality and/or toproduce complementary functions. Likewise, aspects of theimplementations may be implemented in standalone arrangements. Thus, theabove description has been given by way of example only and modificationin detail may be made within the scope of the present invention.

The subject technology of the present invention is illustrated, forexample, according to various aspects described below. Various examplesof aspects of the subject technology are described as numbered examples(1, 2, 3, etc.) for convenience. These are provided as examples and donot limit the subject technology. The aspects of the variousimplementations described herein may be omitted, substituted for aspectsof other implementations, or combined with aspects of otherimplementations unless context dictates otherwise. For example, one ormore aspects of example 1 below may be omitted, substituted for one ormore aspects of another example (e.g., example 2) or examples, orcombined with aspects of another example. The following is anon-limiting summary of some example implementations presented herein.

Example 1. A method of wireless data transmission may include receiving,at a device, a first frame over a wireless network, constructing apreliminary data portion of a second frame, the second frame configuredfor transmission over the wireless network, in response to the receivingof the first frame at the device, beginning transmission of a headerportion of the second frame over the wireless network, and after thebeginning transmission of the header portion of the second frame,constructing, based on the preliminary data portion, a finalized dataportion of the second frame for transmission over the wireless network.

Example 2. A device including hardware configured to perform operations,the operations including: receive a first frame over a wireless network,construct a preliminary data portion of a second frame, the second frameconfigured for transmission over the wireless network; in response tothe receiving of the first frame, begin transmission of a header portionof the second frame over the wireless network, and after the begintransmission of the header portion of the second frame, adjust thepreliminary data portion to construct a finalized data portion of thesecond frame for transmission over the wireless network.

Example 3. A non-transitory computer readable media includinginstructions that when executed by a device, cause the device to performoperations, the operations including: receive a first frame over awireless network; construct a preliminary data portion of a secondframe, the second frame configured for transmission over the wirelessnetwork, in response to the receiving of the first frame at the device,begin transmission of a header portion of the second frame over thewireless network, and after the begin transmission of the header portionof the second frame, construct, based on the preliminary data portion, afinalized data portion of the second frame for transmission over thewireless network.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural or singular termsherein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural tothe singular or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to thecontext or application. The various singular/plural permutations may beexpressly set forth herein for sake of clarity. A reference to anelement in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one”unless specifically stated, but rather “one or more.” Moreover, nothingdisclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless ofwhether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description.

In general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims(e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open”terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “includingbut not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “havingat least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” etc.). Furthermore, in those instances where aconvention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, ingeneral, such a construction is intended in the sense one having skillin the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having atleast one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systemsthat include A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and Ctogether, B and C together, or A, B, and C together, etc.). Also, aphrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to include one ofthe terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase“A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B”or “A and B.”

Additionally, the use of the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., arenot necessarily used herein to connote a specific order or number ofelements. Generally, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., areused to distinguish between different elements as generic identifiers.Absence a showing that the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc.,connote a specific order, these terms should not be understood toconnote a specific order. Furthermore, absence a showing that the termsfirst,” “second,” “third,” etc., connote a specific number of elements,these terms should not be understood to connote a specific number ofelements. For example, a first widget may be described as having a firstside and a second widget may be described as having a second side. Theuse of the term “second side” with respect to the second widget may beto distinguish such side of the second widget from the “first side” ofthe first widget and not to connote that the second widget has twosides.

The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedimplementations are to be considered in all respects only asillustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosureis, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by theforegoing description. All changes which come within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within theirscope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless data transmission, themethod comprising: transmitting, to a device, a first frame over awireless network, the first frame configured to trigger a responsivecommunication from the device; and receiving a responsive frame from thedevice over the wireless network, the responsive frame including apreliminary data portion and a finalized data portion, the preliminarydata portion of the responsive frame constructed by the device prior tobeginning of transmission of a header portion of the responsive frameand the finalized data portion constructed after the beginning of thetransmission of the responsive frame.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe first frame includes a beginning symbol that is transmitted at afirst of the first frame, wherein the construction of the preliminarydata portion of the responsive frame begins before the beginning symbolof the first frame is received by the device.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the construction of the finalized data portion of the responsiveframe begins before the beginning transmission of the header portion ofthe responsive frame and continues after the beginning transmission ofthe header portion of the responsive frame.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the header portion of the responsive frame is constructed basedon information obtained by the device before a cyclic redundancy checkof the first frame.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first frameincludes instructions to the device regarding the responsive frame. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the first frame includes a last symbol atan end of the first frame and wherein the transmission of the headerportion of the responsive frame begins at a transmission start time asdetermined by the device.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the firstframe includes a length parameter extracted from the first frame beforethe last symbol of the first frame is received by the device and thetransmission start time is determined based on the length parameter. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the first frame is a trigger frametransmitted by a wireless access point and the responsive frame is aphysical layer protocol data unit frame.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the first frame designates the device for transmission of uplinkdata.
 10. A device comprising: hardware configured to performoperations, the operations comprising: transmit a first frame over awireless network, the first frame configured to trigger a responsivecommunication from a client device; and receive a responsive frame fromthe client device over the wireless network, the responsive frameincluding a preliminary data portion and a finalized data portion, thepreliminary data portion of the responsive frame constructed by theclient device prior to beginning of transmission of a header portion ofthe responsive frame and the finalized data portion constructed afterthe beginning of the transmission of the responsive frame.
 11. Thedevice of claim 10, wherein the first frame includes a beginning symbolthat is received at a first of the first frame, wherein the constructionof the preliminary data portion of the responsive frame begins beforethe beginning symbol of the first frame is received.
 12. The device ofclaim 10, wherein the construction of the preliminary data portionbegins before the beginning of the transmission of the header portion ofthe responsive frame and continues after the transmission of the headerportion of the responsive frame.
 13. The device of claim 10, wherein theheader portion of the responsive frame is constructed based oninformation obtained by the client device before a cyclic redundancycheck of the first frame.
 14. The device of claim 10, wherein the firstframe includes instructions to the client device regarding theresponsive frame.
 15. The device of claim 10, wherein the first frameincludes a last symbol at an end of the first frame and wherein thetransmission of the header portion of the responsive frame begins at atransmission start time as determined by the client device.
 16. Thedevice of claim 10, wherein the first frame is a trigger frametransmitted by the device and the responsive frame is a physical layerprotocol data unit frame.
 17. The device of claim 10, wherein the firstframe designates the client device for transmission of uplink data. 18.A non-transitory computer readable media including instructions thatwhen executed by a device, cause the device to perform operations, theoperations comprising: transmit a first frame over a wireless network,the first frame configured to trigger a responsive communication from aclient device; and receive a responsive frame from the client deviceover the wireless network, the responsive frame including a preliminarydata portion and a finalized data portion, the preliminary data portionof the responsive frame constructed by the client device prior tobeginning of transmission of a header portion of the responsive frameand the finalized data portion constructed after the beginning of thetransmission of the responsive frame.
 19. The non-transitory computerreadable media of claim 18, wherein the construction of the finalizeddata portion of the responsive frame begins before the beginningtransmission of the header portion of the responsive frame and continuesafter the beginning transmission of the header portion of the responsiveframe.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 18,wherein the first frame is a trigger frame transmitted by the device andthe responsive frame is a physical layer protocol data unit frame.